Two and a Half Years in Seclusion, Awakening!

Snow drifted through the afternoon air. Around a deserted mountain peak, thunder and lightning blanketed the area as usual. Atop the high mountain, a figure encrusted in snow sat motionless, still as an old monk in deep meditation. The rock beneath and around him had sunk slightly by about three feet. The entire perimeter of the summit was scorched black, and the massive boulder beneath him had been transformed by the lightning's saturation into a rare smithing material. The cycle of the four seasons had turned autumn into a piercingly cold winter. Hum! An incomparably powerful, profound tremor suddenly swept outward like a shockwave, rolling across dozens of li! The cultivators who had been lingering on the outskirts of this thunder purgatory, meditating in seclusion, were startled awake in an instant! Over a hundred cultivators widened their eyes in disbelief as they looked toward the summit. Through the lightning atop the peak, the snow covering the indistinct figure blew away, revealing his appearance. His white robe had long since turned a grayish-white, stained with mud, and his untamed hair hung loose. A three-inch beard clung to his chin, giving him a thoroughly unkempt look. The lightning around him seemed to freeze for an instant before retracting into his body with lightning speed. Boom! Shattered rock flew from beneath his feet, and the snow within hundreds of zhang was blasted away in an instant. The man slowly rose to his feet and opened his eyes, narrowing his pure-white pupils slightly. He glanced around in a mild daze, noticing quite a few cultivators staring at him, but turned back without minding them. Looking down to examine himself, his thoughts settled, and a bitter smile touched the corner of his lips. Li Guanqi had never imagined that merely mastering the fundamentals of a cultivation method would keep him in seclusion for so long. Watching the drifting snow around him, Li Guanqi looked on with deep, pensive eyes. "So... winter has already arrived..." Li Guanqi had gone without speaking for so long that his voice was raspy, sounding strange even to his own ears. Looking at the ground beneath him, erosion from wind, sand, and lightning had caused it to cave in by more than three feet. Only the spot where he had sat remained standing upright like a stone pillar. Seeing the thick layer of dust accumulated on his robes, Li Guanqi surged the primal energy within his body, shaking away all the grime. Rumble! Thunder boomed between heaven and earth. The moment the primal energy within him began to circulate, a sound like roaring thunder echoed inside his body. Boom! With a flick of his hand, Li Guanqi produced a full hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones, which floated densely in midair. Seeing this, the watching cultivators swallowed hard in greed, their eyes gleaming, yet none dared to make the slightest move. Or rather... The pressure currently radiating from Li Guanqi was simply not something they could withstand; under that overwhelming aura, their bodies stiffened as they knelt halfway to the ground. Circulating the cultivation method within him, Li Guanqi murmured softly, "Divine Punishment!" Boom! In an instant, the skies changed color, and the violent winds whipped up like blades, stinging everyone's cheeks. Within dozens of zhang around Li Guanqi, a vortex formed, wildly refining the surrounding spiritual qi that had condensed into liquid. Lightning hissed and crackled, and Li Guanqi's aura began to climb frantically. "Is... is this Senior attempting to break through to the Mahayana Realm? Isn't this commotion a bit too massive?" "Let's back away. As long as he doesn't treat us as enemies, we'll be fine." "Hiss! Don't you all... think he looks a bit familiar?" The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth curved upward slightly. The first layer of the Divine Punishment technique was already comparable to unleashing his previous technique at full power. Moreover... Had his level of Spirit Comprehension not advanced once more, even grasping the basics of this first layer would have been difficult. His constitution was extraordinary; in the past, he had needed only a single glance to comprehend nearly any cultivation method or sword art. To think that this time it had taken him nearly three months. When he entered seclusion, autumn had just barely begun, and now it was already winter. Boom! A soft snap seemed to echo from within his body, and Li Guanqi's aura instantly surged to the late Body Integration Realm! Li Guanqi stroked his beard, surprised that in just a few months, he had grown a goatee. With a wave of his hand, he severed the beard and tied his long hair up with a jade crown. Li Guanqi took a slight step forward, instantly appearing hundreds of zhang away! Seeing this, the surrounding cultivators hastily bowed in greeting! Li Guanqi turned back toward the summit and beckoned with his hand. Immediately, a pitch-black boulder burst out from the earth, flying toward him in an instant! Thud! A dull sound came, and looking at the sword coffin, Li Guanqi smiled faintly. He wiped away the dust upon it and slung it across his back. Li Guanqi exhaled a breath of turbid air and looked at the surrounding cultivators, unable to help frowning slightly. His slight frown was nothing to him, but the onlookers trembled in fear, assuming he was displeased that they had been leeching off his lightning to cultivate. All at once, the watching cultivators bowed deeply. The leader among them was an elder at the early Void Refining Realm. The elder's hair was grizzled, and he was positioned closest to Li Guanqi. Seeing Li Guanqi's slight frown, the elder's heart jolted. He took a step forward, bowed, and said: "Senior, this old man is an elder of Qinghe Mountain Villa, named Yue Dianhong." "We... have been exceedingly cautious and only meditated at the outer rim of this thunder purgatory. We do not know if we have disturbed Senior's quiet cultivation." "If we have offended you in any way, we beg Senior's forgiveness..." Hearing this, Li Guanqi understood. It turned out that the thunder purgatory he had unintentionally unleashed while in seclusion had become an enlightenment ground for these lightning-attribute cultivators. Although the primal energy he released contained nothing extraordinary, his insights into lightning and sword intent had long since merged into his primal energy. Those meditating on the periphery had indeed gained something from it. Li Guanqi did not mind them perceiving his power. He waved his hand and said softly, "It is no matter. Even if you cultivated here, you did not disturb me." Hearing those words, the elder breathed a sigh of relief. The rules of this place had been set by him. When he first arrived, he had sensed someone atop the mountain and understood the situation immediately. He simply decided to cultivate here, and established a rule in passing: no one was permitted to enter the thunder purgatory; everyone could only meditate along its edge. For these cultivators endowed with lightning spiritual roots, such a precious cultivating ground was exceedingly rare, so they naturally united in obeying the rule. If anyone broke the rule, they would face unanimous opposition. Li Guanqi closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings. Suddenly, his brow furrowed, and he turned to the elder. "What year is it now?" The elder paused, slightly surprised, but quickly realized that the man before him had lost track of time. After a brief hesitation, a young man beside him spoke up, "Replying to Senior, this year... is the year two thousand and twenty-four." Li Guanqi froze where he stood, muttering under his breath, "Twenty-four?" "Does that mean... more than two whole years have passed?!" Li Guanqi pulled out Lu Kangnian's jade slip, only to find it pulsing with light repeatedly. It seemed Lu Kangnian had sent him numerous messages over the past two years. He called out telepathically to the sword spirit, yet received no response. Li Guanqi let out a bitter laugh. He cast one last glance back at the summit, took a single step, and vanished from the spot.